Judge Melba Marsh offered a drug defendant a chance to stay out of prison and quit marijuana. But the request 'to offer him a joint' by the drug defendant shocked the judge.

19-YEAR-OLD Damaine Mitchell on Wednesday was charged with trafficking in marijuana, which is a serious crime, carrying a prison sentence of one-and-a-half-years. Mitchell is from Westwood, Ohio, and he was arrested for selling marijuana in a parking lot.

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The common pleas court judge of Ohio asked Mitchell to take the treatment program to give up smoking. She also said that if the treatment program goes successful then she will take back the punishment and also erase the crime from his record.

The judge asked him to stop smoking for one month, and after one month she would do a drug test on him to ensure that he was living up to his end of the deal.

But the reply given by Mitchell was shocking; he said that it would be difficult for him to give up smoking. He told the judge, "I like smoking weed. I have been smoking weed since I was, like, ten years old."

Judge Marsh, did not give up and again started to give him deadlines to stop smoking pot. To this Michelle said that if he put up his mind to do it, he will surely do it, but he will not do it. At the end Michelle made an unusual request saying that he would be willing to try to quit smoking, if she would approve of what amounted to government-sanctioned drug use.

"I know this is probably not the right question to ask, but can I get a little time at least to get one more joint in?" he asked the judge.

Marsh was shocked with his request, and she ordered him to come to her court again on Monday. An astonished Marsh said, "That's the first time I've ever had a request for marijuana while they're serving time in jail,"